Back from a quick trip to the South (Charleston/Savannah).  Turns out I love southern food and hospitality. I already miss the sweet tea and the 80 degree weather.  But it does feel like home to be back in the Midwest (and it didn't hurt that it was beautiful and sunny today.)

Jay was quite busy at home on the farm while I (and the children) were gone.  He painted and added to the chicken coop (Thanks also to Ben S.)  The coop now has a bright, red door and a little fenced in area where the chickens can roam free without fear of being someone's lunch.  We are quite ready for the chicks arrival.  They will stay in our mud room until they are old enough to go into the coop.

Jay also started the garden.  He chose a sunny spot on the land and is starting a lasagna garden there. Lots of fresh, organic dirt is now in a large rectangle on a spot that was previously lawn.  As I'm not pretending to be a farmer or a gardener, I'll stop there.

Hopefully the chicks arrive by Tuesday, when some family members are coming over to continue to help with unpacking and getting the garden ready!

We also hope to figure out how to get garbage pick-up figured out this week, now that we live out of city limits. We decided we are definitely not interested in hauling our garbage (via mini-van and children) to the dump so we are going to pay a private garbage contractor.